Thursday, July 9, 2009

I apologize for not posting in the past few weeks. I have been as busy as the prize winning one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest!!!!! I have too, too many irons in my one and only fire.

I have been preparing for a wedding on Friday night, the 24th of July. Lena, Katy and I are going to do all the flowers, bouquets, corsages, etc. etc. etc. I am hoping that my friend Lyndell is going to help me because Lena and Katy are both working Thursday so I will be on my own all day. I get a little stressed out when I first get started with florals. You know, you usually have in your head how you want something to look, but when you are not a professional, it sometimes doesn't work out that way. It generally looks great when you get finished, but it seems really hard for me to have the confidence to see it coming. Anyway, we have to pick up the flowers in Nashville on Thursday morning, make everything except the outdoor decorations and take it to Franklin. Pictures will be posted soon after, I promise.

SO WE BE SEWING..........

Besides getting ready for the wedding, we are trying to get ready for all the craft fairs and shows that are coming really soon. We have been keeping that sewing machine going on and on and on.It has been a week since we got started......(I started this last Thursday and never finished-remember, I was busy)

Well, it's Thursday and I have no idea where the week went. I have been working on my sewing projects every day and night. We are going to be putting our creations in a shop soon so we are trying to "beef" up our inventory. We have made over 130 bibs this week! And no, I don't have any adult size bibs although I have been thinking about making myself one. I don't know if this happens to everyone or not, but I almost always drop food right on my chest. My husband asked me one night at our favorite Mexican place, after I had dropped salsa for the second or third time, "why don't you make yourself a bib?" I guess it's an idea, but I don't see it going over very well.

Last Friday, we went to Nashville to purchase more fabric. Our favorite fabric store is having a 50% off sale on all fabric! YeeHaw!!!!!!!!!!!! We get to get twice as much fabric as usual! I had been getting prepared for the trip by cutting scraps of fabric that I know I wanted to buy and scraps that I needed to match. There is so much fabric in that store that you literally get overwhelmed trying to decide what you want. It was almost a waste of time to try to be prepared. I had already been on Monday and bought 4 yards. So on Thusday I bought 10 yards! I came home so excited! I really got even more excited when Lena wanted to go back on Saturday. She bought 15 yards!! Are we crazy or what?

We have got to get busy now working on all our stuff. I made some gifts this week for a baby shower. The owls are for twin baby boys! I also made bibs to match out of the owl fabric. I didn't get a burp cloth made yet, but don't worry, there'll be one soon.

The aligator is one of my favoites.

He wraps around the back of the onesie.

They are so cute! I just love the fabrics too.

The elephant has a floppy ear!

FRIDAY IS FINALLY HERE!

Well it is finally Friday. I am so glad to begin my weekend. Lena is gone, Katy is working, Megan is working, Grant is going to his other grandmother's (Boooooooo), Bobby is playing golf and I will be all alone Saturday! I will get so much done! It might not be sewing, but it might be....who knows? So I am going to close with my favorite quote:

The purpose of life is to discover you gift. The meaning of life is to give it away."

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Wow! What a Monday!Monday's should be for resting after the weekend, but I had a very busy one. Lena and I went to Nashville to order flowers for a wedding and then we went to the Farmers' Market. I haven't been in years. We had a great trip, mainly because it wasn't so terribly hot.

There are so many fruits and vegetables there! We loaded up with pole beans, corn, tomatoes, new potatoes and our favorite asparagus. I have never cooked pole beans before. I can remember as a child my grandmother and all my aunts sitting out in the yard under the shade trees with bushel baskets of those things. They were probably gossiping about someone or fussing about the men, but they would snap those beans like it was nobody's business.

So, here we go. We took our beans out to the back porch (remember, it isn't that hot anymore) and proceded to snap beans. Of course, I acted like I knew what I was doing because Lena didn't have a clue what to do. It was kinda fun, sitting there snapping and pitching them into a bowl. It went pretty fast, I guess because we only had three pounds.

Once they were all snapped, we brought them into the kitchen to get started. My mom called in the meantime and gave us last minute instructions. We covered them with water, added salt and pepper, then added some bacon to season. I guess it is probably better to use salt pork or fat back, but that is all I had on hand.

It takes several hours to cook but once they were nearly finished I added some new potatoes to the pan. My grandmother always did that. The beans and taters were great! Fresh vegetables have so much flavor! It is quite an accomplishment for a 40-something year old woman to take on a task like that and succeed. (Pat on the back, here)

We are certainly going to make a habit out of going to the farmers' market, probably here in Murfreesboro. I think that we should support our local growers and besides that, the food tastes really good.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Wow! We have had a terribly busy weekend so far. I am hoping for a restful Sunday. Sometimes I think we should have Mondays off so we can recover from the weekend.GRADUATION PARTY

Grant, Megan and Shane had a get-together on Saturday afternoon. So I started my day early getting ready for that. I cut up fruit for what seemed like an eternity and managed to only cut myself twice. I bought this little paring knife at TJMaxx and it is the best knife ever. Don't you just love TJMaxx? Anyway, once I finished the fruit, I drove over to their house to take some tables and chairs. Oh My Goodness! It was hot. I think I gave myself a detox treatment in one and a half hours of sweat. I also got to see Grant for a little bit. He is growing so fast! I cannot believe how long he is getting. His little legs have fat rolls and his arms are getting that way too. He is always throwing his arms around like a little boxer or maybe he is practicing his throw for baseball. (like his PopPop and Uncle Nathan)

The barbeque was originally planned for Nathan's graduation. Megan decided to go ahead and have it even though the guest of honor wouldn't be there. Most of Nathan's family was there so there was a big crowd. It was a really nice party. Nathan called and Bobby put him on speaker phone so that we could all hear him. He said he missed everyone and wished he could be there. I think he is feeling a little homesick. He is going to get a visit from his girlfriend around the 15th of July, so that should cheer him up.

He spoke so elequently on the phone to us all. I was thinking about how those sportscasters always interview players after the game and I think that Nathan will be one of those players that you don't mind listening to. He always seems to speak from the heart.

There were so many people in the house that you couldn't stir them with a stick. Right before the party, a thunderstorm came through. What a mess! While the rain passed on by, we prepared everything to go outside. I wish we could have planned for the awaiting sauna. OMG! More heat. One of the guests said he was definately going to change the way he acted and try to become a better person. We wondered why????????? He said that it was so hot outside he did not want to imagine what that other place (not Heaven) felt like. Ha!

I hope that this hot weather isn't going to be the trend for the rest of the summer. It feels like August already. We did get some much needed rain but it unfortunately doesn't cool things off.

GHOSTS FANS DISAPPOINTED AGAIN

Well, somewhat disappointed.....NATHAN HIT ANOTHER HOME RUN!!!!!!!!Can you believe it? Second game, second home run. We are so proud! Unfortunately, the team lost another game. It will be nice to get a win under their belts.

MS. TECHNOLOGICALLY CHALLENGED

Oh my gosh, I have finally, after much deliberation, decided to get out there amongst the rest of the real world and join FACEBOOK. Probably the biggest mistake I have made this week. I am having a hard time learning everything about it. Thank goodness I have daughters that are quite savy on the program. It takes me forever to even load pictures and I am quickly finding out that I don't use my camera nearly enough. I guess I'll have to start carrying that thing with me everywhere.

It amazes me how many people are on that thing. I was loading a few pictures and as soon as they had finished loading, one of my friends sent me a message that said she liked the pics. I cannot figure out how she saw them so quickly. I had just uploaded them. She must have just been sitting there waiting.

Oh well, I hope that I can figure out how to get around on it soon. The few friends that I do have on there will probably want to drop me because I am too boring. :)

WEDDING FLOWERS

I have a friend that is getting ready to marry off her daughter. Well, she is more than a friend, more like family. She is the sister of my sister in law. Well, the wedding is coming up soon and we (me, lena and katy) are doing the flowers. We are going to Nashville tomorrow to look at flowers and get our order together.

I love to make flower arrangements, but it is almost impossible for me to figure out how many flowers I need to order. Luckily the people at Geny's Flowers are so helpful. They helped me order flowers for another wedding back in October and have graciously offered to help again.

It is amazing to me how you can tell someone what you want the arrangement to look like, and they can tell you how much of each flower you need to order. I guess it's not that unusual, I am always being asked how to clean something. Just because I clean houses doesn't mean I know everything about cleaning, but I can offer good information time to time.

Anyway, I think this wedding is going to be very pretty. It is going to be in Franklin at Lily Belle's. The garden area behind the house is where most of the festivities will happen. The bride and groom are quite fond of the natural look. So, we have to figure out how to put flowers together that look like they haven't been put together. Right?

I will be sure to post some pictures after the wedding. We usually get so busy putting the wedding together that we forget to take pictures of everything. This time we are not going to let that happen.

Pics of arrangements we did for Lindsay's wedding......

Well, I think I am going to close now. I need to work on my notes for the flowers to be ordered. I don't want to show up to my appointment looking like a complete idiot.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Yes, another week has flown by. Nathan is playing his debut game tonight as a "professional" ball player. We will, of course, be glued to the computer watching the game later this evening. He is in Idaho Falls, Idaho and this is the third game this week that they have played. Unfortunately they have lost the 2 former games, but Nathan has been sitting the bench. Things will most likely change tonight, at least we are hoping for a win and are excited to see Nathan play his first major league baseball game!

Nathan posted some pictures on his blog of the Grand Teton Mountains. He says he has seen lots of wildlife, too. It is truly beautiful country out there and he is really blessed to get to see some of it. I am sure that the bus is not the best way to travel but at least he can see some pretty sites. Soon he will hopefully get to see the Salt Lake. I was in Idaho and surrounding areas about 25 years ago but I will never forget the sites. I wonder if he will get to see the Snake River or not. That is the river that Evil Kenievel jumped. Anyone know who that is besides Uncle Billy?

FRIDAY........

Oh my gosh, Nathan played an awesome game last night. Here we are watchingthe game, well everyone but me because I took the picture. He had a hit and a homerun! Can you believe it? On his professional debut he hit a homerun over the centerfield fence! We were so excited to hear...oh yea, the stupid computer lost the signal right when Nathan came to bat, so we had to hear about it. We didn't even get to see it. Stupid internet. Anyway, it doesn't matter because he did a fabulous job and we are so proud of him. We are hoping that he'll be playing again tonight. This is the last game they'll play in Idaho Falls.

HAVE A GOOD ONE!

I don't know much more to talk about today. We will be getting ready for the big game tonight. Hopefully I will have lots of great news tomorrow or Sunday. We will be at a barbeque on Saturday with the sweetest baby in the world. it is supposed to be another HOT one so I suppose we will come home and fall out. Until then.......

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Hot Hot HotWell it is Saturday and we were going to try to get some work done outside but it is almost too hot to do anything. Bobby is going to use the pressure cleaner, but only in the shady spots. I am going to see if there is anything that I can do in the shade. If not, I am going to stay indoors.The dogs don't even want to go out today. I literally had to pick them up and carry them to the back yard under the big shade tree. Poor little things have such a hard life.FANCY SCHMANCY

Lena put this pretty backgound on my blog for me, but I don't know how to line up the parameters of the page. Everything looks lopsided. Hopefully I'll get it figured out pretty soon. I am still learning about this blog. I need a "Blogging For Dummies" book if there is one.LATER.......talk at you later. Have a great weekend and a Happy Father's Day.

Friday, June 19, 2009

I am so glad this week is finally over, at least most of it. I have been so busy and I am pretty sure that Bobby hasn't had as much TV time as he would like either.

GHOSTS FANSNathan left Monday morning at the crack of dawn to begin his career as a professional ball player with the Colorado Rockies organization. He is playing for the Casper Ghosts out of Casper, Wyoming. He will be playing in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Montana. Of course he would be in one of the most beautiful areas of our great country, but did he have to be so far away? Well, he will be so busy playing ball that he won't have much time to miss us. Of course everyone has always wanted this for Nathan, we just forgot we had to let him go. Especially when it all happens so quickly and they go so far away.

The team played an exhibition game the other day and Nathan got to start! We were so excited for him. He said he hit the ball, he just hit it right to someone. He got his uniforms and his numer is #1. Probably not the number he would have preferred, but we all know that it fits him well. We will be able to see a few of his games on the internet. Maybe someday we will watch him on TV.

WILL WORK FOR PLANE TICKET

If you know anything about Bobby, you can guess that he is chomping

at the bit to put together a trip to see Nathan play. The airfare alone is

really expensive. We all know how difficult it is to make a decent living

these days, much less take a vacation. I told him he should do some

odd jobs on the side. Maybe have a car wash or something. Ha! He

will work it out somehow, that I am sure.

OH BABY! WHAT A FACE!

Baby Grant is the most precious baby in the world!! He came into our world onlythree months ago,but it feels like he has been here all along. He is everything a grandbaby is supposed to be and more. Everyone always says that old saying about Grandchildrenbeing so special...well they are right. That little fella can do no wrong. He is growing like a weed and is changing every day. We usually get to see him at least once a week and can hardly believe the changes in him each time. He is trying to stand up now. He won't hardly let you just sit him in your lap anymore. Guess we will be shopping for one of those disc seats with all the bells and whistles on it so he can stand up. He is beginning to reach for things with his little fat fingers. It is so much fun just to watch him. We laugh at ourselves because sometimes we all just sit and stare at him. Megan and Shane are celebrating their wedding anniversary this weekend, so we look forward to getting to babysit.

WHOEVER SAID

"SEWING IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL"

OBVIOUSLY NEVER USED A SEWING MACHINE.

A few months before Grant was born, we decided to start sewing. Katy had already been sewing in her design class at MTSU but it had been many, many years since I had sewn. I took a home economics class back in the dark ages but my dear sweet Granny Willeford pretty much did my sewing project for me. It wasn't her fault really. She worked in a factory where she made clothing all day, so when she got on the machine the project was finished in a flash. I knew just enough to be dangerous. That is why I chose to make onesies that had hand stiched appliques on them. There is something about sitting all hunced over on the couch, sticking your fingers with a sharp needle and listening to your favorite television show that soothes the soul. HA! No really, I do enjoy making something from scratch that makes someone smile.

Anyway, we have been getting better and better all the time. Lena has started to use the machine now. Megan has a big interest, but hasn't yet committed. She has her hands full with little Grant. She has a sewing machine of her own, but doesn't know how to use it yet. We will be more than happy to take turns watching Grant while she learns.

I have been working on some bibs, burps and onesies to match for a shower gift. Actually, we have been working on them. Katy can sew pretty much anything. Now that Lena is learning, we can form an assembly line. Maybe we will get a business license and start our own multi-million dollar company! It could happen

LAWN CARE=MEXICAN FOOD

Yesterday, I decided I would help Bobby with the mowing while he ran an errand. The errand was for me, but I thought that I could ride the mower for a few minutes while he ran to town. Something about being in my own yard instead of the streets of Murfreesboro sounded like a good deal. Well, I haven't been on a riding mower in years. Many years. Anyway, it is kinda like riding a bike, (you don't forget) however that stupid thing beat the crap out of me. My hands, back and shoulders hurt like never before. Not to mention that it was 150 degrees outside. I managed to get most of the yard cut before he got back. He never came to relieve me but he was waiting on Lena and Brad to bring their car to be repaired.

After the mowing was completed and the car was repaired, we went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican resturaunt. At least it is our favorite at the moment. We consider ourselves Mexican Food Experts. I honestly think that I could live off mexican food. We love it! It is really hard to find a good spot because they usually change cooks or the cooks get deported or they go back to Mexico or something. Every time we find a favorite, something happens to ruin it. What is it with these places? It is just a real disappointment when you look forward to going all day and then you get there and the food is lousy.

Anyway, since Bobby did the repair on Brad's car, Brad took us to dinner at our favorite Mexican resturaunt and the food was delicioso! Thanks Brad.

FINALLY FRIDAY!

Well, it is finally Friday. I am looking forward to a nice, quiet weekend. Father's Day is Sunday. We are going to spend it with my parents and most of our kids. I guess everyone will want to swim, since it is too hot to do much else.

Saturday is going to be a work day at home. I think Bobby has some catching up to do since baseball season is over at MTSU. Maybe we won't have heat strokes. I haven't even planted hardly any flowers this year. I just haven't had the time lately. I am kinda glad I didn't since it is so hot. Watering isn't my favorite thing to do.

I look forward to Sunday afternoons. It seems like everyone is really relaxed and it feels good to just lay on the couch with the fan on, a blanket and a pillow, and watch movies. If we only had more days like that.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll be back in a couple of days with new news and a good fresh cup of coffee. See ya.

About Me

We are the Hines'. Sheila and Bobby are parents, step-parents and recently grandparents. We have lived in the 'boro for 20 plus years. Our family is growning all the time. Megan and her husband Shane (baby Grant's parents), Lena and her husband Brad, Nathan and Katy. We also have a bunch of cats and several dogs. Our home is always full of animals. Once the children started growing up and moving away, more animals showed up.
This blog is dedicated to keeping our family and friends informed of our weekly activities and the goings-on of our children and grandchildren.